Systems and methods for generating, securing, and maintaining emoji sequence digital tokens

ABSTRACT

Accordingly, systems and methods for purchasing, securing, and maintaining emoji sequences is presented herein. In one or more examples, an enterprise or user can generate or purchase an emoji sequence, which can include a sequence of emojis that can be used to uniquely identify an enterprise. Once the emoji sequence has been acquired, in one or more examples, the emoji sequence can have a digital token associated with it, wherein the digital token can be derived from the emoji sequence string, in a manner that is unique and deterministic.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/081,184, filed Sep. 21, 2020, the entire contents of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for generating,purchasing, securing, and maintaining digital tokens using a simplifiedstring of characters such as a sequence of emojis that can be used toidentify and access digital information regarding an entity in a safeand secure manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The internet and other digital technologies have allowed for businessesand other enterprises to communicate and interact with their customersin a variety of unique ways. For instance, a customer can access anenterprise's websites, social media accounts, and other informationabout a company that is publically available through the internet.Furthermore, customers can use the internet to not only accesspublically available information about a company, but also can conducttransactions over the internet with the enterprise such as buyingproducts and services, remitting payments, sending and/or receivingdocuments, etc.

Because an enterprise, and especially a large enterprise, might havedigital information located and stored in a plurality of locations, inorder to communicate with an enterprise across all of its digitalplatforms, a customer would be required to be familiar with each andevery location and the method by which to access the location in orderto have access to the information about an enterprise. In the case ofwebsites or social media platforms, the addresses at which to accessthese sites might be easy to remember. However, other methods ofinteracting with an enterprise digitally can be difficult to remember ormay not be user-friendly. For instance, if a user wants remit paymentfor services or goods to an enterprise using an enterprise's digitalwallet, then they would have to know the address or identification codefor the enterprise's digital wallet.

As an example, wallet addresses for blockchain wallets are typicallyrepresented in human-legible form in one of three ways: as a hexadecimalrepresentation, as a Base64 representation, or as a Base58representation. In each of these common ways of representing the walletaddresses, each wallet address is represented using a string of lettersand numbers, typically exceeding 20 characters in length. The length andrandomness of the alphanumeric string makes the wallet address unwieldyand difficult to remember, thereby decreasing its usability andhindering the adoption of cryptocurrencies.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Accordingly, systems and methods for purchasing, securing, andmaintaining emoji sequences is presented herein. In one or moreexamples, an enterprise or user can generate or purchase an emojisequence, which can include a sequence of emojis that can be used touniquely identify an enterprise. Once the emoji sequence has beenacquired, in one or more examples, the emoji sequence can have a digitaltoken associated with it, wherein the digital token can be derived fromthe emoji sequence string, in a manner that is unique and deterministic.

In one or more examples, ownership of the emoji sequence can be acquiredby associating a private key encryption code with the emoji sequencesuch that the owner of the emoji sequence can modify the informationassociated with the emoji sequence using the private key, whilecustomers of the enterprise or other entities that want to access theinformation associated with the emoji sequence can access theinformation using a public key.

In one or more examples, once ownership of the emoji sequence has beenestablished, the owner of the emoji sequence can associate data with theemoji sequence, for instance by storing the data on nodes of ablockchain in the form of a merkle tree of associated and categorizeddata that can be accessed by a customer or user using the emojisequence, but can only be modified by the owner of the emoji sequence.The process of acquiring an emoji sequence and associating with data isnot limited to blockchain or other distributed ledger implementations.

For instance, in one or more examples, the data associated with an emojisequence can be stored in a publically available relational databasemanagement system (RDMS), and associate the data with the emoji sequencevia a FOREIGN Key. In one or more examples, the data associated with anemoji sequence can be stored in any type of database such as a key-valuestore (KVS) database.

In one or more examples, the owner of the emoji sequence can update thedata associated with the emoji sequence by invalidating any old data andcommitting the updated data set (consolidating any of the changes made)using a cryptocurrency transaction that can be immutably recorded on theblockchain.

In one or more examples, if an owner of an emoji sequence would like totransfer the emoji sequence to another entity, then they can transferthe ownership by use of an atomic swap. In an atomic swap, the sellercan receive payment on delivery of the asset, or else the transfer canfail completely.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary Emoji sequence according to examples ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computing system for facilitating anemoji sequence marketplace according to examples of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary process for purchasing an Emoji sequenceaccording to examples of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for associating data with anEmoji sequence according to examples of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary Merkle tree associated with a Emojisequence according to examples of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process for updating the data associatedwith an Emoji sequence according to examples of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary process for accessing informationassociated with an Emoji sequence according to examples of thedisclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a computing device in accordance withone embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the following description of the disclosure and embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which are shown, byway of illustration, specific embodiments that can be practiced. It isto be understood that other embodiments and examples can be practiced,and changes can be made, without departing from the scope of thedisclosure.

In addition, it is also to be understood that the singular forms “a,”“an,” and “the” used in the following description are intended toinclude the plural forms as well unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It is also to be understood that the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It is further to beunderstood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or“comprising,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or units but donot preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, units, and/or groupsthereof.

Some portions of the detailed description that follow are presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps (instructions)leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic, or opticalsignals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, andotherwise manipulated. It is convenient at times, principally forreasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values,elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. Furthermore,it is also convenient at times to refer to certain arrangements of stepsrequiring physical manipulations of physical quantities as modules orcode devices without loss of generality.

However, all of these and similar terms are to be associated with theappropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels appliedto these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparentfrom the following discussion, it is appreciated that, throughout thedescription, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,”“computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “displaying,” or the likerefer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similarelectronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms datarepresented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computersystem memories or registers or other such information storage,transmission, or display devices.

Certain aspects of the present Disclosure include process steps andinstructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should benoted that the process steps and instructions of the present Disclosurecould be embodied in software, firmware, or hardware, and, when embodiedin software, they could be downloaded to reside on and be operated fromdifferent platforms used by a variety of operating systems.

The present disclosure also relates to a device for performing theoperations herein. This device may be specially constructed for therequired purposes or it may comprise a general-purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium such as, but not limited to, any typeof disk, including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs,magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random accessmemories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of mediasuitable for storing electronic instructions and each coupled to acomputer system bus. Furthermore, the computers referred to in thespecification may include a single processor or may be architecturesemploying multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

The methods, devices, and systems described herein are not inherentlyrelated to any particular computer or other apparatus. Variousgeneral-purpose systems may also be used with programs in accordancewith the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct amore specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. Therequired structure for a variety of these systems will appear from thedescription below. In addition, the present Disclosure is not describedwith reference to any particular programming language. It will beappreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used toimplement the teachings of the present Disclosure as described herein.

As the internet marketplace expands and takes over as the primaryvehicle by which commerce is conducted, large and small companies canseek to establish a digital footprint in the marketplace. This can meancreating and cultivating numerous web sites, social media presences, ande-commerce sites to ensure that potential or actual customers caninteract with the enterprise in a myriad of ways. Furthermore, ascompanies move to establish their online presence, they may also utilizetools available in the electronic marketplace to facilitate digitalinteraction with their customers, for instance by accepting onlinepayments and allowing users to remit payments for services or goodsusing cryptocurrency technology.

However, establishing a large digital footprint using a variety ofinternet sites and digital tools can present challenges to customers. Inorder to interact with a particular enterprise, the customer may have tobe familiar with and even memorize multiple web addresses, social mediahandles, etc., pertaining to a single company. In the example ofremitting payment using cryptocurrency, often a customer would have toacquire or otherwise have knowledge of an enterprise's digital walletID. However, as described above, wallet addresses for cryptocurrency(i.e., blockchain) wallets are typically represented as long strings ofrandom alphanumeric characters that can be difficult to remember andprone to entry mistakes by users.

Because having a large digital footprint (or any type of presence) canrequire the customer to memorize or otherwise have knowledge of theidentity of and details of information pertaining to a company, it wouldbe advantageous for the needed information to be stored in oneconsolidated location that can be accessed by a customer, and accessedin manner that is simplistic and doesn't require the user to memorizealpha-numeric sequences that may not be intuitive with respect to theenterprise.

Furthermore, because the above described consolidated information sourcecan be critical to an enterprise's ability to engage with its customers,the information source should be secured insofar as only the company canedit the information, while the general public has only the ability toread or access the information without being able to modify theinformation in any way.

As described above, the information pertaining to a company such astheir digital wallet can be identified using complicated sequences ofalpha-numeric characters and sequences. Internet protocols such as theworld-wide web can help to simplify accessing internet sites by allowinga user to type in a user-friendly web address using words and letters,rather than numerical IP addresses, however, as described above, acompany's digital footprint can exist beyond internet websites, and thusinternet protocols cannot provide a complete solution to the aboveidentified problem.

Emojis can be utilized to provide a user with an easy and intuitive wayto identify a company. Emoji's are miniature pictures that can be usedto express thoughts, ideas, and concepts, that can be entered using akeyboard or software application, and can be entered without usingalpha-numeric characters. As described in detail below, Emojis are ofteneasier to remember for a typical internet user than an alpha-numericaddress. Thus, a sequence of emojis rather than an alpha-numericsequence can be better suited to ensuring that customer can successfullyaccess information pertaining to a company.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary Emoji sequence according to examples ofthe disclosure. In the examples described below, the term “emojisequence” is used as an example of a type of ID that can be easy toremember and user-friendly, but the example of emoji sequences shouldnot be seen as limiting. Other sequences of characters that may includea mixture of emoji and non-emoji characters, as well as sequences thatdo not include emojis can also fall within the scope of the disclosure.As discussed above, the use emoji sequences can be a more intuitive anduser-friendly way of accessing information pertaining to a particularcompany, without having to remember a myriad of different addresses oridentifiers that may rely on less intuitive alpha-numeric sequences.Take for example a hypothetical airline called “Acme Airlines.” Toaccess information regarding Acme airlines a user may need to know itsweb address, social media handles, and its digital wallet information inorder to be able to fully engage with the company using the entirety ofits online and computer-based services. Using alpha-numeric characterscan pose a challenge because a user would have to remember the webaddress for acme airlines which could use the full Acme Airlines name,or use shortened versions of the name such as Acme Air or AAL for short.This potential confusion could be exacerbated if Acme Airlines used itsfull name in its web address, but used Acme Air for its social mediaprofiles. If a customer wanted to pay Acme Airlines over the internetfor flights, then in one or more examples, the user may need to alsoknow the unique alpha-numeric code for Acme Airlines digital wallet,which may consist of random alpha-numeric sequences, rather than analpha-numeric sequence that is correlated to the name of the airline.

Instead of memorizing all of these different alpha-numeric sequences, ifa user was able to simply access Acme Airlines' information in one placeby simply recalling a sequence of emojis (or other easily remembered andidentifiable string of characters), then the user may be able to moresuccessfully engage online with the airline. In the example of FIG. 1,an example emoji sequence 100 can include a sequence of individualemojis 102, 104, and 106, that the user can more readily memorize toidentify Acme Airlines. Using the Acme Airlines examples, the emojisequence 100 pertaining to Acme Airlines can include a first emoji 102which can be of an airplane. Airplane emoji 102 can be easy to memorizefor a customer of Acme Airlines because it can visually depict anairplane which is the business of Acme Airlines.

To further differentiate Acme Airlines from other airlines, the Emojisequence 100 can also include additional emojis 104, 106, and 108. Inthe example of Emoji sequence 100, emojis 104, 106, and 108 can includeemoji's pertaining to vacation destinations (such as a beach, castle,and mountains respectively) that can help a user to differentiate AcmeAirlines from other airlines and can be easy to remember (since mosttravelers would be purchasing flights to vacation destinations.) Theexample of FIG. 1 is meant as an example only and should not be viewedas limiting in any way. Other exemplary emoji sequences could includemore or less emojis in the sequence.

Because emoji sequences could be used by enterprises to establish theirdigital presence, or provide access to information regarding aparticular enterprise, in one or more examples, a marketplace for Emojisequences can be established so that particular Emoji sequences can bebought or sold in a verifiable and secure way, thereby ensuring thatEmoji sequences will be owned by a single entity and will not be able tobe counterfeited. In one or more examples, a marketplace for the buyingand selling of Emoji sequences can be established digitally (i.e., usingcomputing systems) by using distributed ledger technologies such asblockchain. Using a distributed ledger service such as blockchain callallow for transactions to be verified without requiring a third party toverify transactions between two parties.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computing system for facilitating anemoji sequence marketplace according to examples of the disclosure. Inthe example of FIG. 2, the system 200 can include a purchaser device202. The purchaser device 202 can represent the computing system of apurchaser, who wishes to purchase an emoji sequence that can beimplemented on one or more processors on, for example, a mobile deviceor a desktop computing environment. In one or more examples, the system200 can also include a facilitator computing system 204 that isconfigured to sell emoji sequences to the purchaser via the purchasercomputing system 202.

In one or more examples, the computing system can include a blockchainnetwork 206 that can include a plurality of nodes 208A-E (eg. Servers)that can each maintain respective copies of a blockchain. In actualpractice, the blockchain network 206 may include hundreds or thousandsof nodes. In some embodiments, blockchain network 206 may be adistributed peer-to-peer network as in known by those skilled in theart. In some embodiments, blockchain network 206 of nodes 208A-E canimplement known consensus algorithms to validate transactions submittedto the blockchain network 206. A verified transaction may includetransferred cryptocurrency, contracts, records, or other information tobe recorded to the blockchain. In some embodiments, multipletransactions are combined together into a block of data that is verifiedacross blockchain network 206. Once verified, this block of data can beadded to an existing blockchain maintained by each of nodes 208A-E.

In some embodiments, a user can initiate transactions to be submitted toblockchain network 206 using the purchaser device 202. For example, theuser may submit a transaction using an application configured tointeract with blockchain network 206. For example, the purchaser devicemay generate and transmit cryptocurrency transactions to node 208A forvalidation and verification. Purchaser device 202 may include softwaredownloaded from a digital distribution platform (e.g., App Store onApple devices or Microsoft Store on Windows devices) or a contentserver. In some embodiments, the application implemented on the purchasedevice can provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables theuser to generate transactions between his or her blockchain wallet and ablockchain wallet of a target recipient of cryptocurrency funds.

In one or more examples, and as described in further detail below withrespect to the example of FIG. 3, the system 200 can be configured tofacilitate the purchasing, securing, and, implementation of an emojisequence to a purchaser 202 by the facilitator 204. In one or examples,the system 200 can be configured to allow for a purchaser to purchase anemoji sequence, have the purchased emoji sequence associated with adigital token, and then have the digital token transferred to thepurchaser so that the purchaser can use the digital token to maintaininformation associated with the purchaser that can be viewed by thepublic safely and securely.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary process for purchasing an Emoji sequenceaccording to examples of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 3,process 300 can begin at step 302 wherein a request for a particularemoji sequence is received. In one or more examples, a third partyservice can host and facilitate the emoji sequence buying andregistration process, and thus receiving a request at step 302 caninclude receiving a request from a user/purchaser that requests aspecific emoji sequence. Alternatively or in addition to the exampleabove, the third party facilitator can publish one or more emojisequences (or partial emoji sequences) and a purchaser can indicate atstep 302 that they wish to purchase a particular emoji sequence that hasbeen published by the third-party facilitator and advertised using awebsite.

Once the request for a particular emoji sequence has been received atstep 302, the process 300 can move to step 304 wherein the availabilityof the emoji sequence requested at step 302 is determined. As discussedabove, in the example in which the emoji sequence marketplace ismaintained using a distributed ledger such as blockchain, verifying theavailability of the emoji sequence can include checking with the basenode of the blockchain to determine whether the requested emoji sequenceis available. If it is determined that the requested emoji sequence isnot available, then the process 300 can move to step 306 wherein thetransaction (i.e., purchasing the emoji sequence) will fail, and theuser is notified of the failure. In one or more examples, if there aremultiple parties who are trying to simultaneously purchase a particularemoji sequence, then the process 300 can award the emoji sequence to thepurchaser who comes up with the first transaction mined (discussed infurther detail below)

If the emoji sequence requested at step 302 if found to be available atstep 304, then the process 300 can move to step 308 wherein a digitaltoken can be created using the requested emoji sequence that can be usedto establish ownership of the ID. In one or more examples, the digitaltoken can be derived from the emoji sequence string and can be uniqueand deterministic. In one or more examples, at step 308, a hash of theemoji sequence string plus some additional metadata can be generated. Inone or more examples, generating a hash could include taking the publickey of an encryption scheme of the user (that the user can provide tothe facilitator either when requesting the emoji sequence at step 302,or once it is determined that the ID is available at step 304) and usethe public token to generate the hash.

Public and private keys are an integral component of cryptocurrenciesbuilt on blockchain networks and are part of a larger field ofcryptography known as public-key cryptography (PKC) or asymmetricencryption. The goal of PKC is to easily transition from a first state(e.g., a private key) to a second state (e.g., a public key) whilereversing the transition from the second state to the first state nearlyimpossible, and in the process, proving possession of a secret keywithout exposing that secret key. The product is subsequently a one-waymathematical function, which makes it ideal for validating theauthenticity of transactions such as cryptocurrency transactions becausepossession of the first state such as the secret key cannot be forged.PKC relies on a two-key model, the public and private key.

The general purpose of PKC is to enable secure, private communicationusing digital signatures in a public channel that is susceptible topotentially malicious eavesdroppers. In the context of cryptocurrencies,the goal is to prove that a spent transaction was indeed signed by theowner of the funds, and was not forged, all occurring over a publicblockchain network between peers. A private key of a blockchain walletunlocks the right for the blockchain wallet's owner to spendcryptocurrency funds in the blockchain wallet and therefore must remainprivate. A digital token that is cryptographically linked to theblockchain wallet's private key can be publicly available to all usersto enable other users to send cryptocurrencies to the user's blockchainwallet. For example, the wallet address may be a public key generatedfrom the blockchain wallet's private key using one or more PKCalgorithms.

In one or more examples, at step 308, a hash could be created byconcatenating the purchased emoji sequence with metadata associated withthe emoji sequence such as a Merkle tree (described in further detailbelow) and with the encryption public key provided by the user. Such ahash can provide a unique, deterministic, and verifiable token that canconclusively associate an emoji sequence with a user through thepurchaser's public key. As will discussed in detail further, thepurchaser can use the private key associated with their public key tomodify the data associated with the emoji sequence.

In one or more examples in which a database is used to store theinformation associated with a particular emoji sequence, at step 308,the emoji sequence can be associated with the purchaser, and anyoneaccessing the public available database can gain knowledge of the user'spublic key by accessing the database (only the purchaser of the emojisequence would have knowledge of the private key, and thus could be theonly one who has the ability to the modify the data stored in thedatabase).

Once the digital token is established at step 308, the process can moveto step 310 wherein the transaction (i.e., creation of the digital tokenthat associates the emoji sequence with the user) can be mined using adistributed ledger such as blockchain. As discussed above, the processof purchasing an emoji sequence can be structured as a transaction to beexecuted on a distributed ledger, and thus the process of mining thetransaction at step 310 can include the process of creating a block onthe blockchain and then adding the block to the blockchain (which iskept by each and every node of the distributed ledger). As part of themining process, the miner can also verify that the transaction (i.e.,the creation of the emoji sequence ID that is now associated with aparticular enterprise) is accurate.

After the emoji sequence transaction has been mined and made part of theblockchain at step 310, the process can move to step 312 wherein theownership of the emoji sequence (in the form of a digital token) istransferred to the purchaser of the emoji sequence. In one or moreexamples, the transfer can occur by the purchaser remitting payment forthe emoji sequence to the facilitator, or in one or more examples, theownership of the emoji sequence can be transferred to the purchaser byan atomic swap. In one or more examples, an atomic swap can refer theprocess of exchanging cryptocurrencies between the purchaser and thefacilitator, wherein the purchaser transfers cryptocurrency to thefacilitator, and the facilitator in return transfers the digital token(structured as a currency transaction) to the purchaser.

There are many ways the key-value system can be persisted andrepresented in computer memory and/or on persistent storage. In one ormore examples, a mapping could be used (known as a Dict, Map orHashMap), which can maintain an associated list of the emoji sequencesand their associated values. In another example, a high-performancekey-value system such as LMDB, RocksDB, BerkeleyDB, Memcache or Rediscould be used to associate the emoji sequences and their associateddata. In another example, a Relational Database Management System(RDMS), such as PostgreSQL or MySQL can be used to map the emojisequences to their data using database tables and foreign keyassociations. In another example, a NoSQL document storage database,such as MongoDB can be used to associate the relevant data values withthe emoji sequence. In another example, one could use flat files,storing the associated data for each emoji sequence in a separate fileor directory named using an algorithm to map an emoji sequence to thefile or directory name. In the preferred implementation, a blockchainsystem could make use of any of the above storage strategies to providea decentralized persistent storage system for the access and maintenanceof the emoji sequence system.

In the example of a centralized database implementation, ownership of anemoji sequence can be conferred by associating a user id with the emojisequence (sequences, if they own more than one) in the database. Writeaccess to that data can be controlled by the business logic of thedatabase controller logic in the server application. In ablockchain-based storage implementation, the emoji sequence keys can beassociated with a private key. This key and its public key counterpartcan be used to indicate ownership of the emoji sequence. In one or moreexamples of the disclosure, associating emoji sequences with keys, caninclude establishing a 1:1 relationship using a map in a smart contract,such as Solidity on Ethereum. In another example, a 1:1 relationshipbetween private key and emoji sequence could be constructed using ascript and requiring a digital signature to prove the ownershiprelationship between the key and emoji sequence. Such an implementationis possible in principle on the existing Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, ZCash orsimilar blockchains. In one or more examples, the emoji sequence tokencan be embedded in an output of the blockchain using homomorphicproperties of the blockchain's data structures. In one or more examples,such a strategy can be implemented in Mimblewimble-based protocols, suchas Grin, Beam, or Tari.

Data recorded on blockchain systems are essentially immutable by virtueof chained data structures and proof of work. For the emoji systemsystem, in one or more examples, it can be desirable to make thekey-value lookup tables part of the immutable information set stored onthe blockchain. This can be done in several ways. For smart contractplatforms, such as Ethereum, the emoji sequence database can be storedas part of the smart contract and as such is represented on theblockchain using the native data storage mechanisms of the underlyingprotocol. For non-smart contract platforms, one can summarize the emojisequence database state and store that instead.

There are several ways one can approach this summation process. In oneexample, one could serialize the emoji sequence data and feed it into ahashing algorithm, such as Blake2b. In one or more examples, a computingsystem could represent the emoji sequence data in a Merkle tree or oneof several similar tree structures, and use the root of the tree as thedata summary. The summary, which essentially is a unique andirreversible fingerprint of the current state of the emoji sequence datavalues, can be associated with the token and owner key by embedding thesummary in the unspent transaction output (UTXO) that is associated withowner's private key and emoji sequence token. This can be achieved byincluding the summary into the output features which is a characteristicof most output-based blockchain systems. In Mimblewimble-basedblockchains, another approach could be to add the summary to theblinding factor of the commitment. This achieves the function ofassociating the data with the owner's token and the emoji sequence key,while also increasing privacy by obscuring the fact that there is anyfunctional data present in the output at all.

Once the atomic swap has been performed at step 312, the process 300 canmove to step 314 wherein the process is terminated. At the conclusion ofthe process 300, the purchaser can now own an emoji sequence that isunique and verifiable, and that allows them to give access to theinformation stored in the token in a secure manor, while still allowingonly the owner to have the ability to modify the data contained withinthe digital token.

In one or more examples of the disclosure, the original issuer of theemoji sequence (the asset issuer) may wish to maintain certainprivileges within the emoji sequence ecosystem. For example, the assetissuer may wish to authorize certain transfers; or prevent some emojisequence transfers from occurring. In one or more examples the assetissuer may wish to enforce certain business logic rules; for example,the asset issuer may wish to place a maximum limit onto the number oftimes and emoji sequence can be transferred. In another example, theasset issuer may wish for some emoji sequences to be returned to themafter a certain period, rather than transferring ownership to the emojisequence user indefinitely. Such control may be difficult in blockchainimplementations because blockchains can be censorship resistant anddecentralized in their very nature. One approach to implementing adminfunctionality on blockchain implementations of emoji sequences would beto require all transfers of emoji sequences, as discussed above, tocontain a multi-party signature, of which one signatory is always theasset issuer. Another approach would be to modify the consensus rules ofthe blockchain protocol to acknowledge the existence of the asset issuerand grant the asset issuer additional privileges over the transfer ofemoji sequence tokens that normal users of the protocol do not have. Inthis implementation, the protocol rules do not have to limit themselvesto acknowledging emoji sequence as the only asset on the blockchain. Apreferred implementation would be to allow multiple assets to beregistered on the protocol, and grant additional privileges to thedistinct asset issuers for their distinct digital assets that have beenregistered and issued on and using the blockchain protocol.

As briefly described above, the digital token created by the Emojisequence purchasing processing outlined in FIG. 3 can include metadatastored in the form of a Merkle Tree. The Merkle tree can serve as a datastructure that can allow for the owner of the emoji sequence to storedata (such as its web address, social media handles, or digital walletinformation) that it wants to make publically available to customers orother users who will use the owner's emoji sequence to gatherinformation about the owner. The Merkle tree structure, while achievingthe aims described above, also lends itself well to storing informationfor access on a distributed ledger system such as blockchain. Asdescribed in detail below, the data stored in the Merkle tree of thedigital token can be formatted in a manner that can be efficientlyhandled by a blockchain network.

In one or more examples, and if the data is not stored in a blockchainnetwork, the associated data can be stored in a RDMS database or othertype of database and the data stored in the database can be associatedwith the emoji sequence via a FOREIGN KEY.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary process for associating data with anEmoji sequence according to examples of the disclosure. In one or moreexamples, the process 400 described with respect to FIG. 4 can beimplemented on a distributed ledger network such as the system describedabove with respect to FIG. 2. In one or more examples, the process 400of FIG. 4 can begin at step 402, wherein the data to associated with aparticular Emoji sequence is received. In one or more examples, updatingthe data associated with the Emoji sequence can be structured as ablockchain transaction, wherein the owner of the digital tokenassociated with the Emoji sequence (i.e., the owner of the Emojisequence) can submit a transaction to the blockchain that “spends” theold token state to a new one with an update Merkle root and Merkle tree.In one or more examples, the transaction can be configured to not changethe Emoji sequence itself, because doing so may cause the digital tokento no longer be recognized by the system.

In light of the considerations above, the process 400 can be configuredto update the digital token associated with the Emoji sequence bymodifying the Merkle tree associated with the Emoji sequence. Thus, oncethe modified or additional data is received at step 402, the process canmove to step 404 wherein the data is tagged as belonging to one or morecategories. By constraining the data to certain types using the tags,the system can place upper bounds on the amount of data to be stored forevery Emoji sequence. In other words, in an unconstrained system, theamount of data required for an Emoji sequence could be infinite and thusthe system would not have a way to estimate its memory consumption, butby categorizing the data, the system can have a sense of the upper boundof memory needed for a particular Emoji sequence.

Table 1 below illustrates an exemplary format of the Emoji sequencetoken:

Field Size Description id 4-32 bytes The vanity ID itself Merkle root 32bytes A fingerprint of the attached VEID data. sig 64 bytes A signaturefrom the facilitator certifying the token

As shown above in table 1, each digital token associated with an emojican include an ID filed that occupies 4-32 bytes of memory and storesinformation relating to the Emoji sequence itself. The token can alsoinclude the Merkle root, which can occupy 32 bytes of memory (due to theconstraint provided the category tags, explained in further detailbelow), and the token can include a signature field that can occupy 64bytes of memory and can include a digital signature facilitator thatproves the authenticity of the emoji sequence. The fields and memorysizes described above with respect to Table 1 are meant as examplesonly, and should not be considered limiting to the disclosure in anyway. A person of skill in the art would recognize that a digital tokencould include more or less fields, fields of different types, and fieldsthat consume more or less memory.

Returning to the example of FIG. 4, the data received at step 402 can betagged or categorized into one or more categories. Table 2 below showsan exemplary categorization scheme according to examples of thedisclosure.

Tag Type/Size Description 0x0101 32 bytes Public key 0x0102 64 bytesFacillitator Schnorr signature (R, s) 0x0201 69 bytes Cryptocurrencystandard address 0x0202 69 bytes Cryptocurrency sub address 0x0203 56 +2 bytes Onion3 address 0x03nn nn bytes Web URL 0x0401 32 bytes MerkleRoot 0x05nn nn bytes Arbitrary UTF-8 string data

As shown above in Table 2, category tags can include Web addresses,digital wallet information, social media handles. The above listings aremeant as examples and should not be seen as limiting to the disclosure.In one or more examples, the tags and type of information stored by thesystem can include a diverse array of information includingcryptocurrency addresses, internet addresses/urls, DNS records, textrecords, location data, etc. In one or more examples of the disclosure,the information itself can have its own ID. For instance, a social mediahandle may have an ID (such as a login or screenname), thus the process400 of FIG. 4 can include associating the emoji sequence with the IDand/or functionality associated with the underlying data. In the exampleof a social media account, at step 404, the emoji sequence can beassociated with the social media account's ID, and can further beassociated with the functionality of the social media account, meaningthat when the emoji sequence is invoked, it will engage with thefunctionality of the social media platform as if the user had directlyinvoked the social media account ID.

In one or more examples of the disclosure, and to allow for users toaccess data using emoji sequences, the sequence can allow web and mobileclients, such as browsers and specially written applications to accessthe data associated with emoji sequences. In one or more examples,access can be enabled by defining and implementing a REST API for emojisequences. REST APIs are well suited for centralized databaseimplementations of emoji sequence. REST APIs can also be written forblockchain implementations, where an individual blockchain node operatorcould choose to expose the REST API for her node and allow requests tobe made against it assuming the blockchain node has been written to actas a REST API server. In addition to REST APIs other APIs could beimplemented as well, including JSON-RPC, SOAP, gRPC and many othersimilar internet-based API protocols. In one or more examples,Blockchain node implementations can offer a gRPC API interface to clientapplications. One example of a service that this API, whethercentralized or on a blockchain, may facilitate, is a web applicationthat users can use as a directory lookup service, akin to a modern-day,emoji-based telephone directory or “Yellow Pages”. Another use of theAPI is to implement a web browser that can convert any web page thatcontains emoji sequences in its content into a live directory service,allowing users to look up the associated emoji sequence data withoutleaving the web page they are browsing. A further application would beto allow the blockchain node or centralized emoji sequence server act asa Domain Name Service (DNS) server, translating emoji sequences into IPaddresses for web browser resolution, or mail (MX) records, or any otherDNS record currently defined. In essence, the emoji sequence serviceextends DNS to allow emoji sequences as web domains. Another exemplaryapplication would be to make use of a mobile application that allowsusers to look up emoji sequence data from within their device'sapplications directly. For example, in social media feeds, users couldjump straight to a emoji sequence owner's website, or tip themcryptocurrency, or send them an email—depending on what data the emojisequence owner linked to their emoji sequence—without having to look anyof that information up; only the emoji sequence is published in thesocial media feed.

Once the received data has been categorized at step 404, the process 400can move to step 406 wherein the tagged data can be stored in a Merkletree 406. As described above, the updating of data can be structured asa blockchain transaction in which the old token state is spent to a newtoken with updated Merkle root and an updated Merkle tree. Thus at step406, the categorized data is converted into a Merkle tree with anupdated Merkle root (described in detail below with respect to FIG. 5)

Once the new Merkle tree has been generated at step 406, the process 400can move to step 408 wherein the token is updated on the blockchainnetwork. In one or more examples, and as described above, the token canbe updated on the blockchain network by structuring the update as ablockchain transaction. Once the token has been updated at step 408, theprocess 400 can move to step 410 wherein the process is terminated.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary Merkle tree associated with a Emojisequence according to examples of the disclosure. As described above,the data token associated with an Emoji sequence can include a Merkletree that is stored in a block or blocks on the blockchain network. TheMerkle tree 500 illustrates an exemplary way to store the dataassociated with an Emoji sequence using a Merkle tree.

In one or more examples, the Merkle tree 500 can include information502, 504, 506, and 508. In or more examples, information 502, 504, 506,and 508 can represent unencrypted information such as a web address, ordigital wallet address, etc, pertaining to the owner of the Emojisequence. In one or more examples, each piece of information 502, 504,506, and 508 can be converted into a hash 510, 512, 514, and 516respectively. In one or more examples, and as described above, a hashcan be a function that converts an input value of varying size andlength to an alpha-numeric representation of a fixed length. Thus, hash510 for example, can represent a hash of the public key data found atnode 502 of the Merkle tree 500. Each information 502, 504, 506, and508, can be converted to respective alphanumeric representations 510,512, 514, 516 using a hash function.

In one or more examples, pairs of hash values 510, 512, 514, and 516 canbe concatenated and hashed into a new value. For instance, hash values510 and 512 can be concatenated and hashed into a new value 518.Similarly, has values, 514 and 516 can be concatenated and hashed into anew value 520. Finally, hash values 518 and 520 can be concatenated andhashed into a single hash value 522 that can be referred to as the rootof the Merkle tree. The root 522 of the Merkle tree 500 can represent asingle and distinguishable alphanumeric value that can represent all ofthe information found at nodes 502, 504, 506, and 508.

As described above, the process of updating the data associated with anEmoji sequence can be structured as a transaction that is authenticatedand recorded on a blockchain network. FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplaryprocess for updating the data associated with an Emoji sequenceaccording to examples of the disclosure. In one or more examples, theprocess 600 of FIG. 6 can begin at step 602 wherein the updatedtransaction (generated with respect to the example of FIG. 4) isreceived by the blockchain network. Once the updated transaction isreceived by the blockchain network at step 602, the process can move tostep 604 wherein the received transaction can be analyzed to determineif the transaction is valid. Validating the transaction can refer to theprocess by which a blockchain validates that a new block to be added tothe blockchain is validated as is known in the art.

If it is determined that the transaction is not valid at step 604, thenthe process 600 can move to step 606 wherein the process is terminated.If however, the transaction is determined to valid at step 604, then theprocess 600 can move to step 608 wherein the updated transaction ismined. In the context of FIG. 6, mining can refer to the process ofcreating a block for the blockchain network, and then having each nodeof the blockchain network add the block to their blockchain. After thetransaction has been mined at step 608, the process 600 can move to step610 wherein the process is terminated.

The process outlined about in FIG. 6 can allow for the owner of an Emojisequence to associate useful and pertinent data about the owner in amanner that is secure and allows for third party access with minimalrisk of cyber-attacks or malicious use of the data. From the userperspective, the Emoji sequence can allow for retrieval of informationabout a particular entity, without having to memorize a complicatedalphanumeric sequence, or without having to go to different repositoriesof information to collect data.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary process for accessing informationassociated with an Emoji sequence according to examples of thedisclosure. In one or more examples, the process 700 of FIG. 7 can beginat step 702 wherein the a third-party who wants to access informationassociated with an Emoji sequence makes a request to the base node theblockchain network that stores the data for the information that isrequested. In one or more examples of the disclosure, the request caninclude the emoji sequence associated with the information, and specificcategory tags (described above) that the third-party wants to receive.In one or more examples, if the third-party wants to receive all of thestored information associated with an Emoji sequence, then they can omitany category tags from their request in which case the system willreturn the entirety of the data associated with the Emoji sequence.

Once the request is received at step 702, the process 700 can move tostep 704 wherein the base node of the blockchain on which the data isstored can work to return the data associated with the request. In oneor more examples, returning the data can include analyzing the blocks onthe blockchain to determine if any of the blocks pertain to the Emojisequence specified by the third-party, and if a block is found, then thedata found in the block (i.e., the Merkle tree) can be returned.

Once the data is returned at step 704, the process 700 can move to step706 wherein the returned data is formatted for transmission to the user.In one or more examples of the disclosure, the returned data can beserialized by the returning blockchain node and the returned to theuser. Once the data has been formatted at step 706, the process 700 canmove to step 708 wherein the returned data is transmitted to therequester. Once the data has been transmitted at step 708, the process700 can move to step 710 wherein the process is terminated.

The example provided below, shows an example form by which a requestercan request data associated with an emoji sequence:

Message type: VEID request

Payload:

-   -   The DA id    -   VEID [UTF-8 string] The emoji string    -   Category Tags [Array of 16-bit little-endian unsigned integers].        The data the client is requesting about this VEID. An empty        Category tag parameter indicates that the node should return all        VEID data.        Response: EMOJI SEQUENCE response

Payload:

-   -   Status: [1 unsigned byte]. The value indicates “Ok” or “Emoji        sequence does not exist”.    -   The DA id    -   The Emoji sequence    -   Data: [Array of Data]    -   VEIDData:        -   Category Tag [16-bit little-endian unsigned integer]. The            category tag for the data in Data.        -   Data [byte array]. The data associated with the VEID for the            given tag. The data format returned depends on the value of            Tag.

Example

VEIDRequest

[0x0101, 0x0201]

VEIDResponse 0x01 [ 010170350e09c474809209824c6e6888707b7dd09959aa227343b5106382b856f73a 020144TariLabskSiGBNMDwYtN18obc8AemS33DBLWs3J7oXjrpDtQGv7SqSsaBYBb98uNbr2VBBEt7f2wfn3RVGQBEP3A 020144TariLabsA3rjsjSDGdsj78djAemS33DBLWsdfg8obc8s3H7oXjrpDtQGv7SqSsaBYBb98uNbr2VBBEtFhs7FFsjS]

In one or more examples and as briefly described above, an Emojisequence can be transferred between parties (i.e., ownership of theEmoji sequence can be transferred). In one or more examples, transfer ofan Emoji sequence can be achieved using an atomic swap and thus does notrequire the issuer of the Emoji sequence (i.e., the facilitator) to beinvolved in such a transaction. In an atomic swap, the seller receiversher payment on delivery of the asset, or else the transfer failscompletely. No escrows or third parties are necessary in atomic swaps.

In centralized database implementations, ownership transfer can beachieved by reassigning the emoji sequences's owner id to that of thenew owner, for example by executing an update query on the database.Such a query could be initiated by the current owner, or by an adminuser that has access to the database or API calls that can execute sucha query. In smart-contract blockchain implementations, such as Ethereum,ownership changes can be executed through a suitable “transfer” functionin the smart contract and providing the relevant authorization data anddigital signatures with the ethereum transaction. In script, oroutput-based blockchains, ownership transfer can take place using theunderlying protocol's standard transaction mechanics as a vehicle. Inone or more examples of the disclosure, an emoji sequence owner couldtransfer or sell the sequence to another party by “spending” the outputthat is associated with the emoji sequence to one that the new ownercontrols. The initial owner may or may not receive payment for theprocess in a separate transaction.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a computing device in accordance withone embodiment. Device 800 can be a host computer connected to anetwork. Device 800 can be a client computer or a server. As shown inFIG. 8, device 800 can be any suitable type of microprocessor-baseddevice, such as a personal computer, workstation, server, or handheldcomputing device (portable electronic device) such as a phone or tablet.The device can include, for example, one or more of processors 802,input device 806, output device 808, storage 810, and communicationdevice 804. Input device 806 and output device 808 can generallycorrespond to those described above and can either be connectable orintegrated with the computer.

Input device 806 can be any suitable device that provides input, such asa touch screen, keyboard or keypad, mouse, or voice-recognition device.Output device 808 can be any suitable device that provides output, suchas a touch screen, haptics device, or speaker.

Storage 810 can be any suitable device that provides storage, such as anelectrical, magnetic, or optical memory, including a RAM, cache, harddrive, or removable storage disk. Communication device 804 can includeany suitable device capable of transmitting and receiving signals over anetwork, such as a network interface chip or device. The components ofthe computer can be connected in any suitable manner, such as via aphysical bus or wirelessly.

Software 812, which can be stored in storage 810 and executed byprocessor 802, can include, for example, the programming that embodiesthe functionality of the present disclosure (e.g., as embodied in thedevices as described above).

Software 812 can also be stored and/or transported within anynon-transitory computer-readable storage medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device,such as those described above, that can fetch instructions associatedwith the software from the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice and execute the instructions. In the context of this disclosure,a computer-readable storage medium can be any medium, such as storage810, that can contain or store programming for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Software 812 can also be propagated within any transport medium for useby or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as those described above, that can fetch instructionsassociated with the software from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In the context ofthis disclosure, a transport medium can be any medium that cancommunicate, propagate, or transport programming for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The transport readable medium can include, but is not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or infrared wired orwireless propagation medium.

Device 800 may be connected to a network, which can be any suitable typeof interconnected communication system. The network can implement anysuitable communications protocol and can be secured by any suitablesecurity protocol. The network can comprise network links of anysuitable arrangement that can implement the transmission and receptionof network signals, such as wireless network connections, T1 or T3lines, cable networks, DSL, or telephone lines.

Device 800 can implement any operating system suitable for operating onthe network. Software 812 can be written in any suitable programminglanguage, such as C, C++, Java, or Python. In various embodiments,application software embodying the functionality of the presentdisclosure can be deployed in different configurations, such as in aclient/server arrangement or through a Web browser as a Web-basedapplication or Web service, for example.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the techniques and their practical applications. Othersskilled in the art are thereby enabled to best utilize the techniquesand various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Some examples of the disclosure are directed to a method for assigningan emoji sequence to a user, the method comprising: receiving a requestfrom the user to acquire the emoji sequence, wherein the emoji sequencecomprises one or more emojis, associating the emoji sequence with theuser, associating the emoji sequence with one or more data fields,wherein associating the emoji sequence with the one or more data fieldsincludes associating the emoji sequence with one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields, and configuring a datastorage system such that when it receives the emoji sequence the datastorage system provides access to the one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields.

Some examples of the disclosure are directed to A system for assigningan emoji sequence to a user, the system comprising: a memory, one ormore processors, and one or more programs, wherein the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors, the one or more programs when executed by theone or processors cause the processor to: receive a request from theuser to acquire the emoji sequence, wherein the emoji sequence comprisesa one or more emojis, associate the emoji sequence with the user,associate the emoji sequence with one or more data fields, whereinassociating the emoji sequence with the one or more data fields includesassociating the emoji sequence with one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields, and configure a datastorage system such that when it receives the emoji sequence the datastorage system provides access to the one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields.

Some examples of the disclosure are directed to A system for assigningan emoji sequence to a user, the system comprising: a memory, one ormore processors, and one or more programs, wherein the one or moreprograms are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by theone or more processors, the one or more programs when executed by theone or processors cause the processor to: receive a request from theuser to acquire the emoji sequence, wherein the emoji sequence comprisesa one or more emojis, associate the emoji sequence with the user,associate the emoji sequence with one or more data fields, whereinassociating the emoji sequence with the one or more data fields includesassociating the emoji sequence with one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields, and configure a datastorage system such that when it receives the emoji sequence the datastorage system provides access to the one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields.

Additionally or alternatively to one or more examples disclosed above,the method comprises: generating a digital token based on the emojisequence, associating a public key of a public key cryptography schemeof the user with the generated digital token, associating the one ormore data fields with the generated digital token, and associating theuser with the emoji sequence and the generated digital token.Additionally or alternatively to one or more examples disclosed abovegenerating a digital token based on the emoji sequence includes applyinga hash function to the emoji sequence. Additionally or alternatively toone or more examples disclosed above associating the public key of theuser with the generated digital token includes concatenating the publickey with the emoji sequence and applying the hash function to theconcatenated emoji sequence and public key. Additionally oralternatively to one or more examples disclosed above associating one ormore data fields with the generated digital token includes generating aMerkle tree based on one or more data fields. Additionally oralternatively to one or more examples disclosed above associating one ormore data fields with the generated digital token includes concatenatingthe emoji sequence with the generated Merkle tree root and applying ahash function to the concatenated emoji sequence and Merkle tree root.Additionally or alternatively to one or more examples disclosed abovethe Merkle tree is generated based on data stored within the one or moredata fields. Additionally or alternatively to one or more examplesdisclosed above generating the Merkle tree includes associating one ormore category tags to the data stored within the one or more datafields. Additionally or alternatively to one or more examples disclosedabove the method comprises storing the generated digital token on adistributed ledger system, and the distributed ledger system isimplemented on a blockchain network. Additionally or alternatively toone or more examples disclosed above placing the digital token on thedistributed ledger includes generating a block based on the generateddigital token and storing the generated block on a plurality of nodes ofthe distributed ledger. Additionally or alternatively to one or moreexamples disclosed above associating the user with the emoji sequenceincludes transferring ownership of the generated digital token to theuser, and wherein transferring ownership of the generated digital tokento the user includes executing an atomic swap on the generated digitaltoken. Additionally or alternatively to one or more examples disclosedabove the method comprises updating the one or more data fields withdata received from the user. Additionally or alternatively to one ormore examples disclosed above updating the one or more data fields withdata received from the user includes associating one or more categorytags with the data received from the user. Additionally or alternativelyto one or more examples disclosed above updating the one or more datafields with data received from the user includes generating a Merkletree based on the data received from the user and the associated one ormore category tags. Additionally or alternatively to one or moreexamples disclosed above the distributed ledger comprises a read-onlydatabase. Additionally or alternatively to one or more examplesdisclosed above the method comprises receiving a request to identifyuser information associated with the emoji sequence, searching thedatabase to identify the digital token associated with the emojisequence, retrieving data stored in the one or more data fields; anddetermining that the second Merkle root is assigned to the digitaltoken; and transmitting the retrieved data to a source of the request toidentify user information associated with the emoji sequence.

Although the disclosure and examples have been fully described withreference to the accompanying figures, it is to be noted that variouschanges and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in theart. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as beingincluded within the scope of the disclosure and examples as defined bythe claims.

This application discloses several numerical ranges in the text andfigures. The numerical ranges disclosed inherently support any range orvalue within the disclosed numerical ranges, including the endpoints,even though a precise range limitation is not stated verbatim in thespecification, because this disclosure can be practiced throughout thedisclosed numerical ranges.

The above description is presented to enable a person skilled in the artto make and use the disclosure, and it is provided in the context of aparticular application and its requirements. Various modifications tothe preferred embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure. Thus, this disclosure is not intended to belimited to the embodiments shown but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. Finally,the entire disclosure of the patents and publications referred in thisapplication are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

1. A method for assigning an emoji sequence to a user, the methodcomprising: receiving a request from the user to acquire the emojisequence, wherein the emoji sequence comprises one or more emojis;associating the emoji sequence with the user; associating the emojisequence with one or more data fields, wherein associating the emojisequence with the one or more data fields includes associating the emojisequence with one or more functionalities associated with the one ormore data fields; and configuring a data storage system such that whenit receives the emoji sequence the data storage system provides accessto the one or more functionalities associated with the one or more datafields.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises:generating a digital token based on the emoji sequence; associating apublic key of a public key cryptography scheme of the user with thegenerated digital token; associating the one or more data fields withthe generated digital token; and associating the user with the emojisequence and the generated digital token.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein generating a digital token based on the emoji sequence includesapplying a hash function to the emoji sequence.
 4. The method of claim3, wherein associating the public key of the user with the generateddigital token includes concatenating the public key with the emojisequence and applying the hash function to the concatenated emojisequence and public key.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein associatingone or more data fields with the generated digital token includesgenerating a Merkle tree based on one or more data fields.
 6. The methodof claim 5, wherein associating one or more data fields with thegenerated digital token includes concatenating the emoji sequence withthe generated Merkle tree root and applying a hash function to theconcatenated emoji sequence and Merkle tree root.
 7. The method of claim5, wherein the Merkle tree is generated based on data stored within theone or more data fields.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein generatingthe Merkle tree includes associating one or more category tags to thedata stored within the one or more data fields.
 9. The method of claim2, wherein the method comprises storing the generated digital token on adistributed ledger system, and the distributed ledger system isimplemented on a blockchain network.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereinplacing the digital token on the distributed ledger includes generatinga block based on the generated digital token and storing the generatedblock on a plurality of nodes of the distributed ledger.
 11. The methodof claim 2, wherein associating the user with the emoji sequenceincludes transferring ownership of the generated digital token to theuser, and wherein transferring ownership of the generated digital tokento the user includes executing an atomic swap on the generated digitaltoken.
 12. The method of claim 1 comprising: updating the one or moredata fields with data received from the user.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein updating the one or more data fields with data received fromthe user includes associating one or more category tags with the datareceived from the user.
 14. The method of claim 12, where updating theone or more data fields with data received from the user includesgenerating a Merkle tree based on the data received from the user andthe associated one or more category tags.
 15. The method of claim 2,wherein the distributed ledger comprises a read-only database.
 16. Themethod of claim 2, comprising: receiving a request to identify userinformation associated with the emoji sequence; searching the databaseto identify the digital token associated with the emoji sequence;retrieving data stored in the one or more data fields; and determiningthat the second Merkle root is assigned to the digital token; andtransmitting the retrieved data to a source of the request to identifyuser information associated with the emoji sequence.
 17. A system forassigning an emoji sequence to a user, the system comprising: a memory;one or more processors; and one or more programs, wherein the one ormore programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed bythe one or more processors, the one or more programs when executed bythe one or processors cause the processor to: receive a request from theuser to acquire the emoji sequence, wherein the emoji sequence comprisesa one or more emojis; associate the emoji sequence with the user;associate the emoji sequence with one or more data fields, whereinassociating the emoji sequence with the one or more data fields includesassociating the emoji sequence with one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields; and configure a datastorage system such that when it receives the emoji sequence the datastorage system provides access to the one or more functionalitiesassociated with the one or more data fields.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the processor is caused to: generate a digital token based onthe emoji sequence; associate a public key of a public key cryptographyscheme of the user with the generated digital token; associate one ormore data fields with the generated digital token; and associate theuser with the emoji sequence and the generated digital token.
 19. Thesystem of claim 18, wherein generating a digital token based on theemoji sequence includes applying a hash function to the emoji sequence.20. The system of claim 19, wherein associating the public key of theuser with the generated digital token includes concatenating the publickey with the emoji sequence and applying the hash function to theconcatenated emoji sequence and public key.
 21. The system of claim 18,wherein associating one or more data fields with the generated digitaltoken includes generating a Merkle tree based on the one or more datafields.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein associating one or more datafields with the generated digital token includes concatenating the emojisequence with the generated Merkle tree root and applying a hashfunction to the concatenated emoji sequence and Merkle tree root. 23.The system of claim 21, wherein the Merkle tree is generated based ondata stored within the one or more data fields.
 24. The system of claim23, wherein generating the Merkle tree includes associating one or morecategory tags to the data stored within the one or more data fields. 25.The system of claim 18, wherein the processor is caused to store thegenerated digital token on a distributed ledger system, and thedistributed ledger system is implemented on a blockchain network. 26.The system of claim 25, wherein placing the digital token on thedistributed ledger includes generating a block based on the generateddigital token and storing the generated block on a plurality of nodes ofthe distributed ledger.
 27. The system of claim 18, wherein associatingthe user with the emoji sequence includes transferring ownership of thegenerated digital token to the user, and wherein transferring ownershipof the generated digital token to the user includes executing an atomicswap on the generated digital token.
 28. The system of claim 17 whereinthe processor is caused to: update the one or more data fields with datareceived from the user.
 29. The system of claim 28, wherein updating theone or more data fields with data received from the user includesassociating one or more category tags with the data received from theuser.
 30. The system of claim 29, where updating the one or more datafields with data received from the user includes generating a Merkletree based on the data received from the user and the associated one ormore category tags.
 31. The system of claim 28, wherein the distributedledger comprises a read-only database.
 32. The system, of claim 18,wherein the processor is caused to: receive a request to identify userinformation associated with the emoji sequence; search the database toidentify the digital token associated with the emoji sequence; retrievedata stored in the one or more data fields; and determining that thesecond Merkle root is assigned to the digital token; and transmit theretrieved data to a source of the request to identify user informationassociated with the emoji sequence.
 33. A computer readable storagemedium storing one or more programs for assigning an emoji sequence (ID)to a user, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which, whenexecuted by an electronic device with a display and a user inputinterface, cause the device to: receive a request from the user toacquire the emoji sequence, wherein the emoji sequence comprises a oneor more emojis; associate the emoji sequence with the user; associatethe emoji sequence with one or more data fields, wherein associating theemoji sequence with the one or more data fields includes associating theemoji sequence with one or more functionalities associated with the oneor more data fields; and configure a data storage system such that whenit receives the emoji sequence the data storage system provides accessto the one or more functionalities associated with the one or more datafields.
 34. The computer readable storage medium of claim 33, whereinthe device is caused to: generate a digital token based on the emojisequence; associate a public key of a public key cryptography scheme ofthe user with the generated digital token; associate one or more datafields with the generated digital token; and associate the user with theemoji sequence and the generated digital token.
 35. The computerreadable storage medium of claim 34, wherein generating a digital tokenbased on the emoji sequence includes applying a hash function to theemoji sequence.
 36. The computer readable storage medium of claim 35,wherein associating the public key of the user with the generateddigital token includes concatenating the public key with the emojisequence and applying the hash function to the concatenated emojisequence and public key.
 37. The computer readable storage medium ofclaim 34, wherein associating one or more data fields with the generateddigital token includes generating a Merkle tree based on the one or moredata fields.
 38. The computer readable storage medium of claim 37,wherein associating one or more data fields with the generated digitaltoken includes concatenating the emoji sequence with the generatedMerkle tree root and applying a hash function to the concatenated emojisequence and Merkle tree root.
 39. The computer readable storage mediumof claim 37, wherein the Merkle tree is generated based on data storedwithin the one or more data fields.
 40. The computer readable storagemedium of claim 39, wherein generating the Merkle tree includesassociating one or more category tags to the data stored within the oneor more data fields.
 41. The computer readable storage medium of claim31, wherein the device is caused to store the generated digital token ona distributed ledger system, and the distributed ledger system isimplemented on a blockchain network.
 42. The computer readable storagemedium of claim 38, wherein placing the digital token on the distributedledger includes generating a block based on the generated digital tokenand storing the generated block on a plurality of nodes of thedistributed ledger.
 43. The computer readable storage medium of claim34, wherein associating the user with the emoji sequence includestransferring ownership of the generated digital token to the user, andwherein transferring ownership of the generated digital token to theuser includes executing an atomic swap on the generated digital token.44. The system of claim 34 wherein the device is caused to: update theone or more data fields with data received from the user.
 45. Thecomputer readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein updating the oneor more data fields with data received from the user includesassociating one or more category tags with the data received from theuser.
 46. The computer readable storage medium of claim 45, whereupdating the one or more data fields with data received from the userincludes generating a Merkle tree based on the data received from theuser and the associated one or more category tags.
 47. The system ofclaim 31, wherein the distributed ledger comprises a read-only database.48. The computer readable storage medium, of claim 34, wherein thedevice is caused to: receive a request to identify user informationassociated with the emoji sequence; search the database to identify thedigital token associated with the emoji sequence; retrieve data storedin the one or more data fields; and determining that the second Merkleroot is assigned to the digital token; and transmit the retrieved datato a source of the request to identify user information associated withthe emoji sequence.